Two coaches struggling to establish their programs will debut revamped lineups when Georgetown hosts Loyola (Md.) Monday in Washington.
In his fourth season at Georgetown, where he is 43-57, Ed Cooley faces enormous pressure to elevate the Hoyas to respectability in the Big East.
Meanwhile, Loyola’s Josh Loeffler is in his third season with the Patriot League team after going 24-39 over two lackluster years.
Both teams hope to exceed expectations after being picked to finish next-to-last in their respective conferences.
“I know we’ll be competitive. I respect what people’s opinions are of us. That’s what they think of us without knowing us,” Cooley said of the Big East preseason poll of coaches.
“It is what it is,” Loeffler said. “We don’t have a returning player who averaged a lot of points, so we’re not going to get picked very high.”
Caleb Williams — who averaged 8.8 points and 5.1 rebounds per game last year — and Kayvaun Mulready (5.4 ppg) are two rotation players back for Georgetown.
The Hoyas also hope to receive NCAA clearance for 7-foot-1 Vince Iwuchukwu, who averaged 11.6 points and 6.1 rebounds last season. The center has been practicing with the team while seeking a fifth year of eligibility for medical reasons.
Georgetown is counting on big contributions from Jaland Lowe, a transfer from Kentucky who missed most of last year due to a shoulder injury. Two years ago at Pittsburgh, he averaged 16.8 points and 5.5 assists.
Other transfers in the mix are Vyctorius Miller (10.8 ppg at Oklahoma State), 7-footer Chol Machot (8.9 ppg at Charleston), Josiah Parker (Florida Atlantic) and Elmarko Jackson (Kansas).
“I love our offensive firepower and our ability to stretch the floor,” Cooley said. “The things that stand out to me are our ability and our efficiency shooting the ball and sharing the ball.”
Loyola’s top five scorers transferred out, leaving Troy Cicero Jr. (5.8 ppg), Sam Springer (4.9 ppg) and Carter Berg-McLean (3.3 ppg) as the leading returners.
Loyola’s most promising transfers include Leo Ricketts, who averaged 19.7 points and shot 47.5% from 3-point range at Citrus College in California, along with D’Andre Harrison (Kansas City) and Max Ortega (Wofford).